US protests will see some police reform locally

Significance

The killing of African Americans by police is a major political issue; the death rate is three times higher for blacks than whites. Yet this masks huge geographic variation: killings are concentrated in Southern, Western and Midwestern states, and determined more by policing strategy and neighbourhood demographics than overall crime levels.

Impacts

• Any police reforms made will vary across municipalities, cities and states.
• Police unions will push back against police reform attempts they consider unjustified or excessive.
• In some areas, money will be diverted from police funding to other priorities, such as social work and education.
• Other areas may decide to increase police funding to support law and order.
• Trump will offer further federal support to states seeing rioting, and money to support damaged businesses.